What are you dehydrating today?

[Jeepers]

 

14 minutes ago, Midnightmom said:

 

Film yourself in "timer" mode, then watch yourself! (And, don't forget to share your ninja skills with us!) 

Jeeper Scissorhands. 

[Midnightmom]

11 hours ago, Joyfilled said:

I have so many questions....thank you for your patience!!

 

 

Check out "The Purposeful Pantry." She (Darcy) is on YT, FB, and has a dot com site - all with the same name.  

[euphrasyne]

I use dehydrated hashbrowns all the time.  Just soak them in hot water then use as you would frozen only the cook time is much much less.  

 

I like having the ingredients on hand to make things rather than the made thing.  it gives me greater use and more possibilities.  

Edited June 10, 2022 by euphrasyne

[Joyfilled]

6 hours ago, Midnightmom said:

I think you would have to dehyrate the ingredients separately, then rehydrate them once you want to combine them to make your hash browns. Alternatively, you could can your potato mix and fry it up later as a scramble, not patties. 

You're making me hungry. 😂 

 

It's a hash brown casserole, though. It has cream of chicken, sour cream....I'd obviously not dehydrate those, but I wonder if I could do the hash browns by themselves, then reconstitute them and use them in the casserole?

[Joyfilled]

2 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

I use dehydrated hashbrowns all the time.  Just soak them in hot water then use as you would frozen only the cook time is much much less.  

 

I like having the ingredients on hand to make things rather than the made thing.  it gives me greater use and more possibilities.  

Yes! Me too. Some times they are nice to have ready to eat (fast food), but having the ingredients flexible is nice, too. I appreciate knowing that I can store them dehydrated. Less use of freezer, which is my goal right now!!

[Midnightmom]

When everyone is speaking of "hash brown" potatoes, are you meaning the "patties" or are you referring to the way the potatoes are cut? The Auguson Farms items my Winco had included potato "shreds." Is that what you would consider to be "hash browns?"

[euphrasyne]

Dehydrated hashbrowns are loose shreds.   Frozen hashbrowns can be loose shreds, cubes like potatoes o'brien, or patties.   I have all of the above in my pantry/freezer.   When I get commercial shelf stable ones, I usually buy the cartons of Idaho Spuds.   It makes just the right amount for 2 meals for us and is super simple.   I do stock instant potato flakes and potato slices dehydrated.   I find those to be super useful.  I also have canned potatoes from home canned and commercial.  

[Mother]

[Jeepers]

I was looking for this too.  

[Littlesister]

Glad it was found. I thought I had seen it at some point in time. But, then forgot about it.  But today I dehydrated celery. Decided to try out the new Nija grill as it also dehydrates. I really don't like the way celery does when frozen, for some things I want it for. So, this Nija does more than I thought it would but works out great for when I only have a few things to dehydrate. When I buy celery and onions, I have to find something to do with what I haven't used, or it will go bad unless I freeze it or just dehydrate that small amount in oven or the larger dehydrator. They are still dehydrating so will see soon how this works out for small batches of things. 

[Jeepers]

Keep us posted on how it does! I want to do celery in the future too.

 

I'm going to try canning it too. I've heard it doesn't turn out very well. But if you blanch it first it is supposed to do better. I'd just like a few half pints to have on hand to put in casseroles. It might be too mushy though. 

 

We used to love fried celery. Or probably more like boiled. Or maybe steamed. I don't know. I'm not a good cook. But I used water and chicken Bull-Yon (can't spell it) and cooked it up in a frying pan until it wilted down and the broth evaporated. It was one of D-ex's favorites. Don't salt it. BTDT 

[euphrasyne]

I use a commercially dehydrated celery all the time.  WaltonFeed/Rainy Day #10 can of it open in my pantry is a staple.  I cook with it a lot.  

[Littlesister]

Jeepers, I will let you know. I checked it a bit ago and it is almost done. It's really looking good. I use it when I make chicken salad and such as well as in soups. The celery I froze was fine for soups but not for chicken salad. So, hoping this will be better. That Nija is doing a great job of dehydrating it, but it is going to take a lot of celery to get several half pints. This was just some celery I had in fridge, and I wanted to try out the Nija. 

[Littlesister]

1 minute ago, euphrasyne said:

I use a commercially dehydrated celery all the time.  WaltonFeed/Rainy Day #10 can of it open in my pantry is a staple.  I cook with it a lot.  

You must have been typing when I was. I do have a couple of the Rainy day #10 cans but holding those back for harder times. They last 25 years so they will keep fine for a while. 

[euphrasyne]

I don't stock anything for long term that we will not use in the short term.  That way I am familiar with the ingredients and using them is no stress or hardship.  That being said, dehydrated celery is a convenience food for me as much as a long term plan.  I have no qualms about opening up a can of dehydrated anything if I'm out of fresh anything.  I just mark it on the list to be replaced.  Some things, like mushrooms, actually work better as dehydrated.    Many types of rehydrated mushroom take on a fleshy texture and have the mouthfeel of beef or pork.  It makes great vegetarian dishes.  

Edited December 20, 2023 by euphrasyne

[Jeepers]

I bought some dehydrated celery one time and I wasn't too pleased with it. I THINK it was Augason Farms but I could be mistaken. It was a long time ago. It seemed it was too dark in spots. Like it wasn't treated with lemon juice before dehydrating or something. Just not appetizing. Maybe it's supposed to be that way but I ended up picking through it and picking off the dark areas. What I'd like is a freeze dryer for celery. Wouldn't that be nice. 

[Mother]

I always dehydrate the celery leaves both from what I buy and from the root ends I regrow that I don’t use fresh.  I just rinse them, pat them dry, and put them on the shelves of my old small Excalibur dehydrator.  They dry fairly fast and keep their color nicely with nothing on them at all.  I often sauté the sliced stalks with onions and etc and freeze them in batches big enough to use in recipes.  Saves me a step in a recipe or I can toss them into soups, casseroles, or the crock pot and it’s not much more work to do large batches at once. 
 

I am all into batch cooking on days when I have the energy for days when I don’t. 

[Littlesister]

The celery is done and came out great. I didn't use anything on the celery, and it is all the same color. A light green. 

 

euphrasyne, I have used the mushrooms both in spaghetti and on pizza and keep that on shelve as I do use those often. I keep some long-term foods back for hard times. I have shared that with one of my granddaughters when she was struggling to make ends meet. I guess you could say I keep it back for those times when kids are not making it as well at times. That same GD is struggling now as her DH still has not found a job after getting out of the Navy. Last time things got hard for her, I sent her a couple of boxes of freeze-dried foods and gift cards for the grocery store. She is the one that lives in Washington. Now I can just have the foods delivered to her from the companies I use. Makes it much easier. 

[Jeepers]

Same here Littlesister. I keep my dehydrated foods put back for when I can't get fresh or canned food. Apocalypse  . Since most everything got stored either last year or this year, they will probably out live me. That's a good thing. 

 

Did you blanch the celery first or just chop it and dehydrate it? It sounds good.

[Littlesister]

This was a small batch so just chopped it and dehydrated it. This morning it is more of a very light brown color but still smells like celery. I sort of thought it would turn from the very light green to the very light brown but that is normal.